Friday, May 24, 2013

Hi all,
I have at my house the quilt tops made from the lonely crayon blocks back in 2012. Would the group be ok with using these to make some quilts for the Oklahoma tornado drive that Aleeda posted about earlier in the week? I'm also thinking about organizing a sew-in in June to finish the tops and help however we can. I will organize dates with anyone who is interested. Let me know if you'd like to sew for OKC or if you have objections to using the lonely crayons top. Email me at melintheattic (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Sending Love to Oklahoma

This morning, as one couple was going through the remains of their home, they came across a quilt the husband's mother had given them, and it made me wonder how MQG would help.The OKC Modern Quilt Guild has two different ideas: send a quilt to the Oklahoma chapter by June 30, or support their charity quilt drawing.To send a quilt, email okcmqg@gmail.com and they will send an address to you. If you see other projects, please post them on the blog!

Sunday, May 19, 2013

If you weren't here for the meeting, you missed a busy one. As you all know, we are coming up on our year anniversary! With that comes some serious decision making about the future of our guild. A lot of information was disseminated as well as opinions shared and questions posed. Peggy will be sending out an email shortly with ALL of the important details. In June we will be voting (via email) on whether or not our guild will officially become part of the national Modern Quilt Guild. The votes will be tallied and the decision shared before our next meeting on June 20th. If the vote decides that we will become part of the national guild, we will need to elect officers. If you have an interest in this, start thinking about it. We won't be voting on officers in June, but if I remember correctly, anyone interested in a position will be able to make it known.

Now onto the fun stuff!

The To Boston with Love flags were amazing! Everyone did such an awesome job and they will be displayed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts from May 23- June 16th. Here's the press release. Who's up for a road trip!?

As we do every month I'd like to give a special shoutout to our guests this month: Ellen, Val and Becky! It was great to have you!

Finally, some show and tell.

Janita and Amy could not have been more adorably excited as they exchanged name tags.

Jeanine showed off her quilt top for a baby who was just born.

Sue displayed a donation block and gave us a little tip. If you are making a small quilt and you aren't sure of the recipient or purpose, sew some little rings on the back so that it can be hung. Great thinking, Sue!

Dawn's quilt, "Sandy" will be displayed at the Garden State Quilt Show next month!

Melanie shared her adult version of her skyline quilt. This is a special gift for a friend battling leukemia. This quilt is so sophisticated!

Kourtney showed off her second appliquéd skull quilt made with ombre fabric. It's just too cool.

Cortney shared a star wall hanging. Great fabric choices!

Betsy quilted her triple four patch from last month and also showed off her challenge quilt for the show.

Aleeda was kind enough to stand in for Rolanda with Diane for a name tag exchange.

That's all for this month. Keep your eyes peeled for the email from Peggy as well as a survey from Rayna. See you on the 20th! Hope you had some time to work on some sewing during this rainy weekend! Happy stitching!

Monday, May 13, 2013

We interrupt your monthly wrap up for a very important announcement: (Just in case you missed all of the other updates). All "To Boston with Love" flags must be brought to our next meeting on May 16th.

And now back to your scheduled programming...

We had another great group of guests this month. Mia, Daniela, Coleen, Lorraine, and Peggy's sister, Beth! It was so nice to have all of you with us. We hope you enjoyed yourselves, and that we will see you again soon!

Not much news to report from this months meeting:

Aleeda's second demonstration for the bias binding will be this month.

Janita filled us all in on the "To Boston with Love" flags. For more info check out the Vancouver MQG's blog . If you're on Flickr or Instagram check out some of the amazing flags that have been created! #tobostonwithlove

If you're in the mood to take a little road trip the Katonah Museum of Art in Katonah, NY they are running a quilt display until June 16th. While you are there, stop in the quilt lab to make a log cabin block for a baby born at the Bedford Hills correctional center. More info here: Beyond the Bed: The American Quilt Evolution.

As usual, lots of awesome show and tell! So much so, that I think I need to start abbreviating this portion. Everyone did an amazing job and it's fascinating to see everyone's different styles, skill levels, interpretations, and fabric choices. I always leave guild so inspired!!

Mary's African Coins quilt with fabrics from Ghana

Rolanda's Twist and Stitch Quilt made from a layer cake

Judy's Half Square Triangle Chevron baby quilt

Anne's patchwork sweatshirt jacket

Betsy's triple four patch...with squares as small as 1/4" !!!!

Melanie's Garland quilt (above) and baby quilt (below)

Jane's pillowcase

Stephanie and Luba's Quilt

Diane's Oversize King Quilts! Check out that second quilt: the Zipper Quilt: 5 days, 139 sq. in. and 220 blocks!

Dawn's baby quilt with fussy cut centers

Joanne's article in Quilt Life magazine (2/2013) and her "How It All Began" quilt

Hi all - We are back to meeting on the 3rd Thursdays of the month - so our next meeting is:

Thursday, 5/16 at 7:00 PM at Rock Paper Scissors.

Please bring:

Flags for "For Boston with Love" project

Name tag

Folding chair

WHAT WE'LL BE DOING (Besides Show and Tell, of course!)

Since we've been in existence for a year in June, we will be starting the discussion of where our guild will go from here.

This month we'll be talking about the leadership team - what positions we need and who might be willing and able to fill those positions. Unfortunately Rayna will be out of town for this meeting, but she and Aleeda were able to meet and discuss some options about the team makeup and the process which Aleeda will present. Please come prepared to discuss your ideas! The leadership team will probably be finalized at the June meeting.

Aleeda will also be giving us information about our guild's possible membership in the National Modern Quilt Guild. We don't have to make that decision right now, but we need to start thinking about this for the future since there is a deadline.

In addition, Rayna is developing a survey to find out what kinds of activities we'd like to do in the future. She hopes that will be ready within 2 weeks or so. If you want your voice to be heard, it is important that you complete the survey as soon as possible when it is available. The goal will be that the survey results will be available for discussion by our June meeting. The survey and discussion will be used by the leadership team in developing plans for the coming year.

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Hi Everyone,
The Wall Street Journal had a story about the modern quilt movement yesterday! It's not available online, so I bought a copy and will bring it to the next meeting. Have a lovely Mother's Day weekend!

*** Important - Deadline for our guild is 5/16 - the date of our next meeting. They are being mailed the next day so we can't accept any banners later than the 16th! ***

In times of crisis, such as the recent bombings in Boston, we often feel the pain of others but feel so helpless to offer any way to ease the pain of victims or send our message of support to the towns and cities devastated by these acts of violence.

One of the reasons we love sewers, quilters and crafters is that they always seem to find a way to send that message through the gifts of their creations, every one of which has been made and stitched with such love.

Such is the case with "To Boston With Love". Started in the Vancouver Chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild, this project has spread worldwide. Countless people all over the world are stitching small banners with messages of love and peace and support for the city of Boston.

These banners will be hung in a venue in Boston for the world to be reminded of love, peace and support instead of just the harrowing pictures of marathon day. Some small reminder that there is still more good in the world than evil.

Some members of the North Jersey Chapter of the MQG have decided to join the effort. If you would like to join also, please send an email to Beth at beth@rockpaperscissorsnj.com and let her know how many banners you will be making. (If you signed up at the last guild meeting, no need to send a message).

For more information on the requirements, please check out the Vancouver MQG's blog post with all the details:

Please note: the deadline for the banners has been changed to May 16th for our guild. This will allow us to put them together to represent the NNJ chapter and get them shipped to Boston in time. Please drop the completed banners at the store or bring to the 5/16 meeting.

Let's do good, ladies! Remember how important the world's support was for us after 9/11. Let's give some of that love to Boston!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either one of us.

About the North Jersey MQG

We are a regional branch of The Modern Quilt Guild, a group of quilters connecting in the spirit of art, education and community. Our members are experts and beginners of all ages and we welcome visitors and new members.